Alaska the Beautiful (and cold...and getting darker)

Baby, it's cold outside!  It was 2 degrees when I took Kara to school yesterday morning.  It's been sunny and clear, not snowing for the last few days.  I got a glimpse of my favorite Alaska sight, the Sleeping Lady.  There is cool mythology behind this mountain that looks like a lady laying down. We can see her on a clear day, coming down one of the roads here in Eagle River. I'm going to attempt to paste in a fabulous picture:

I hope you can kind of see her.  It's very cool.

We have lots of crunchy snow in our yard and I think it's here to stay because we are no longer getting direct sun in our front yard.  As long as there are no clouds, I have direct sun coming in through the windows in the back of the house (my bedroom, kitchen, dining room, family room) from about 10:00AM until almost 3:00PM.  They say it won't be long until we're not getting any direct sun!  Obviously, this is something I never thought about until we moved here. In fact, I spent most of my time keeping direct sun OUT of my windows to keep the temperatures more bearable!!  The sun isn't up in the morning until 9:00AM and it sets about 6:00PM.  Our shortest day, and I'm told as light as it gets is like twilight, will be about 6 hours on December 21.  After that, we gain a few minutes of daylight every day until June 21.  

We're nearly knee-deep in Halloween preparations.  I think I'm going to be on my own with the pumpkin carving because Clayton is working late this week and pulling a 24hr shift on Thursday.  I may just let the jack-o-lantern slide this year if my kids don't ask about it! (another point towards "mother of the year")

Our New Nephew!!!

Congratulations to Aunt Jennie and Uncle Jake on the birth of their brand new baby boy, Hugh Saylor!  We were kept up to the minute on details by Melissa (THANKS!!!!) and heard about his grand entrance into the world just a few seconds after he arrived.  We wish we could see him but are happy to see pictures of the newly expanded Saylor clan.  God is good!!!  (by the way, for those of you keeping, track, that's 7 nephews for Clayton and I!!  So exciting.)

My New Exercise Plan

This is what our driveway looked like after a couple hours of snow.. I think we got maybe 2 inches??  Anyway, I thought to myself  "Self, you should shovel the driveway for Clayton before he comes home.. what a good wife you are, self!".  So, I took the shovel after the snow, light dusting that it was, and I managed to clear off the top layer.  I scraped at the icy layer underneath but didn't make very much of a difference.  Meanwhile, I'm a little tight across the shoulders and back as well as my abs.  Forget Slim in Six.  I'm shoveling snow (at least one or two more times...then I'm going to insist on a snow blower).

Before....

After!!!!

(I know.... you can hardly tell a difference... humor me, folks)

Randomness

We've been enjoying life up here in Alaska lately so thought we'd share some snapshots of daily life with you.

Here's Kara and a friend performing their first set as a newly formed band :)

Here's one of Clay and his and Daddy's second attempt at hiking to the river... their plans were thwarted by both fresh moose and bear tracks!

And for anyone who ever doubted the sheer size of little Clay's noodle, I give you this:

Clayton had to order Clay a youth size medium because of his head size.. he's 3 people! (oh, in case you're wondering, this is a helmet Clay-Clay will be wearing when he's snowboarding)

The First 5 Target Purchases (for Laura)

1.  Mittens, scarf and hat set for $5.88

2.  Pink suede-y looking boots for Kara

3.  2 $5.50 movies for the kids' stockings at Christmas (look at me planning ahead!)

4.  Long johns for the kids and me

5.  Fake Uggs (I tried them out to prove a point to my dear husband.  They are a mere shadow of the real thing.  I even got blisters from them!  They are cute, though.)

I've been 3 times in a week.  I'm over it for now ;)

Snow Fun

Clayton had an unexpected 24h alert shift today so that meant it was just the kids and I at home tonight.  It's been snowing all day but it's not super cold so I turned them out after dinner. They made snow angels and snowballs on our deck for a little while.   After they were done outside, we made snow cones out of (clean) snow from the deck.  It actually tasted pretty good :)

Getting to Know You

OK.. got this off of Michelle's blog.  They're always kind of fun.  If you want, copy and paste this into a post on your own blog and then come and comment on my blog and leave a link so we can all be entertained. It's ok to embellish or omit... it makes the reading more interesting.  I however, told the whole truth :)

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?   No... you'd think with a flower-child name like "April Dawn" my parents were hippies.. they're not :)  And yes, I realize that my name is April Dawn Johnson (think Miami Vice, Clayton thinks this is hilarious)
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?  Last night watching "Little People Big World".  Stop laughing.  The dad went to Iraq and I saw all these kids/troops on the C130s going into Iraq and thought of my husband and my friends' husbands making that trip several times.  It's too much for me to wrap my brain around today.  Catch it on rerun and send up a prayer for all the kids making that trip today.
DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?  It's legible.  I guess I like it.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?  Boar's Head Ovengold Turkey is the best.  The BH roast beef is also super.
DO YOU HAVE KIDS?  If you're reading this blog, you know about my son and my daughter.  They're pretty cute.
IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?  Interesting question.. probably.  I think I'm a pretty good friend most of the time.  We all have our moments.  I'd probably drive myself crazy half the time.
DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?  Uh, never.  Right.  (ha ha)
DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?   As far as I know.. unless the aliens took them out that one time...
WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?  I'm not planning on it but I might.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?  Raisin Nut Bran (with milk)
DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?    Rarely.  Now it's boot season and they all zip.  And yes, I unzip them to take them off.
DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?  Yes.  I can move furniture and boxes with the best of them.  Our latest movers were WEAK.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?  Butter Pecan..  That black chocolate ice cream from Baskin Robbins.  I love the stuff.
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?   Their hair (women).. I'm always looking for a new style which is surprising considering I think my hair ALWAYS LOOKS THE SAME.

RED OR PINK?   Pink.
WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?  My bad attitude.  The list is long.
WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?   Just having moved to Alaska,  I miss my friends in TX, particularly the moms I hung out with who had kids my age (BJ, Shelli, Sheri, Jane, Beth, Sam, Dianna, Lauri, Laura....)
WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?  White furry slippers.  It's snowing and I'm freezing!!!!
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?  Honey nut cheerios.
WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?  Our very loud washing machine and strange clicking noises from Clay downstairs. 
IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?  Purple.  Don't ask me why...I have no idea.
FAVORITE SMELLS?   Mulled apple cider!  Reminds me of Christmastime, shopping at the malls (in AZ) and of Wiliams-Sonoma, another thing I miss (good malls!).
WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?  Kamdon S.
FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?   The Olympics: gymnastics, especially the men.
HAIR COLOR?   Ha ha... blonde.  Ha ha.
EYE COLOR?  Brown.
DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?   Not yet...
FAVORITE FOOD?   Mexican food, especially Mi Patio in Phoenix, my gram's enchiladas, good salsa and Margaritas!!!
SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?  I do like a happy ending.  I'm not a fan of scary movies (horror) but I like suspense.
LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?   Coming to America.  That movie is so funny, I forgot.  We have free HBO right now.
WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?  Purple.. which may explain the crayon answer.
SUMMER OR WINTER?   Summer!! I don't mind the heat and  I love being outside and in or near the water.
HUGS OR KISSES?   Hugs.  
FAVORITE DESSERT?  Right now I have a thing for apple pies, specifically the ones from Costco.  They're yummy.
WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?   I'm reading a chronological bible-in-a-year and I just finished a novel called "The Historian" which I don't really reocmmend.   Am planning on starting a new fun read today.. I'll take any suggestions you might have.
WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?  An F16. Go Spads.
WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?   I watched all the schmultzy shows on TLC: 17 kids and counting, Little People Big World (again, watch Matt go to Iraq and think of Clayton or whomever it is you know that's gone over...chances are excellent you all know at least one person who has flown into the desert on a C130).
FAVORITE SOUND?  I love the sound of spa music, waterfalls and the steam machine while receiving a facial :)
ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?  I have Beatles on my ipod but I think I like the sound of the Stones better.
WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME???   Anchorage, AK (or is Hawaii farther??) ... 
DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?   Oh.. I have several.  I'm 3 belts away from a black belt in Tae Kwon Do (that's about a year's worth of work, give or take).
WHERE WERE YOU BORN?  Flagstaff, AZ
*** take the time and fill this out.  It's fun :)

...and snow it goes!

We woke up this morning to a few inches of snow everywhere!  I think it has officially arrived. Naturally, Clayton is painting the garage floor so our cars are parked in the driveway for the next 4 days?!?! (I have questioned his timing on this repeatedly)  Clayton was supposed to have today off (it's Columbus Day) but he ended up having to go into work (of course he did!).  We only have one car right now, the Tahoe is at the dealer.  SO, getting to the point of this post, I had my first experience driving on the icy roads after I dropped him off at the squadron!  This is something I learned about the roads in Alaska once the weather arrives... the road crews only clear off the top layer of snow from the roads so what we end up driving on is a layer of ice, sand, salt.. whatever. Who knew?  Another thing that I learned: once the snow comes and stays, we all say good-bye to lane markings until the big thaw (break-up in the Spring).  Anyway, they're always going to be fairly treacherous and I'm driving like an old lady.  My new motto is "45, stay alive".   Fortunately, however, I made it home safely and without incident this morning.  We are waiting on our studded tires to come in.  Once we get those on the cars, I think driving won't be so bad. My learning curve is turning out to be pretty steep as it turns out :)  

Free Bag?!

My sister-in-law Michelle posted about this website that was giving away a purse an hour.  I'm always up for something free and some of the bags looked pretty cool.  Click here and sign up for the contest.  At least it's not some weird scheme telling you Bill Gates is giving away his money!

Shhhhhh...

So I was reading the news online yesterday and I saw a little article saying that Target was opening TODAY.  They called it a "quiet opening" with the grand party on Sunday.  Obviously I had to go down there this morning.  It was kind of crowded but not too bad.  I've been keeping a list of things that I wanted to buy there for a while so I was a man on a mission.  I found everything I was looking for and a few more things.  There was one major disappointment: the prices!!  They have special Alaska price tags that they put on top of the lovely Target price tags. I'd say stuff is between 10-25% higher here.  Sure, there is no tax, but that is only an 8% savings.  I know, everything is more expensive in AK.  I get that.  But there is one exception: Nordstrom. Same prices as in the lower 48...and no tax.  So guess what that means?  I'm actually SAVING money by shopping there.  :)   I digress... yea for Target!

T minus 6 and counting....

Only 6 days until the Target in Anchorage opens.  I've been counting down since we moved here.  I can hardly wait.

Fabulous Fall Firsts

We've had a lot of "firsts" around here the last week or so.. 

Kara learning to ride her bike with no training wheels!! She's doing great.  She's definitely inherited the Johnson gene for adventure and adrenaline rushes.  Daddy is expecting great things for her on the snow this winter (snowboarding chick!).

Clay-Clay is not quite ready for no training wheels.  He has trouble steering his bike at this point.

Kara all geared up for her first field trip to an outdoor science center where they dug for fossils and found dinosaur foot prints (!?).  We broke the rules by not sending her in a coat on top of the sweatshirt on top of her long sleeved tee-shirt.  My kids are cold blooded and get hot easily (which is a good thing since Clayton thinks we should keep the house at 60F during the day and then warm it up to 65F when he gets home).

And as of this weekend, first snow!  We had some snow showers on Friday but the snow wasn't fluffy or sticking.  This afternoon, the flakes are big and fluffy and are sticking to things on our deck.  Aaarrggghhh!  My car still doesn't have snow tires... the good news is that we are now parking both cars in our heated garage (40F).  

So, happy Fall to you all.  I keep having to think "fall" because this weather is really like our bitter winters from TX and AZ.  Ah, I have much to learn! :)